Before Pacific Rim: The Films of Guillermo del Toro

Our review:"[del Toro's] Pacific Rim is summer entertainment with a pulse. The effects are so overscaled and lavish as to be occasionally mindless. But then, the deep-sea monsters that populate the movie -- scaly, nubbly, pissed-off behemoths called by their Japanese name, kaiju -- are also motivated by something primal, a drive that cant be readily explained." Read the full Pacific Rim movie review.

Guillermo del Toro's latest film -- the already lauded Pacific Rim -- hits theaters this week. The filmmaker, a Guadalajara, Mexico native, has directed, written and produced since the late '80s. He's also known for the movies he almost made: del Toro departed from The Hobbit franchise in 2010 after delays in production, but a few of his fairy-tale fingerprints remain on those films, which were picked up by Peter Jackson. Here's a look at the notable films of del Toro: Horror, fantasy, monsters and fairy tales.